English Magazine
Motor, 7th December 1974
FOR: excellent performance: comfortable ride safe handling
AGAINST: rather expensive; engine booms and vibrates; awkward driving position;
instruments difficult to read
If you want to combine luxury with high performance and tolerable fuel economy,
there's plenty to choose from. The Triumph Dolomite Sprint is probably the
epitome of those three attributes, together with the Lancia Beta 1600 -
two cars which we greatly admire. But there are others: Alfa Romeo's Alfetta
(�2503); BMW's 2002 (�2650); Fiat's 124 coupe (�2274);
Ford�s Capri RS 3100 (�2369) and Vauxhall's much vaunted Firenza
(�2625). To this illustrious gathering must now be added Renault's
flagship, the 17 Gordini (�2650).
Re-named the Gordini in August of this year (it used to be called the 17TS)
and fitted with the largest of Renault's current engines, the light alloy
1605 cc fuel-injected 108 bhp power plant, the car certainly is quick. We
achieved a mean lap speed of MlRA's banked circuit of 111.1 mph with a best
quarter speed of 113.9 mph - very respectable figures when you consider
that most cars of comparable performance have much bigger engines.
It steps off the line very smartly, reaching 60 mph from rest in a creditable
9.9 sec, and pulls lustily in fourth gear as the 30-50 mph of 7.6 sec indicates.
In fifth it takes 11.7 sec which puts it very nearly in the same league
as the considerably more powerful Firenza at 11 sec dead.
The fuel consumption is also quite good. During over 1000 miles of extremely
hard driving we achieved an overall figure of 23.2 mpg. At times (notably
on long journeys involving a lot of motorway work) the consumption improved
to around 26 mpg, proving that the average driver should have no trouble
keeping on the right side of the 25 mpg mark.
Despite the way it performs though, the car was in some ways disappointing.
The engine sounds quire rattly at tickover, booms badly from 4000 rpm onwards,
inciting sundry resonances along the way, and doesn't feel at all happy
around town. Prolonged driving at low speeds caused the plugs to foul slightly
and it wasn't until the engine had been revved hard that it would pull cleanly
again. It does seem to thrive on revs though, and was very much at home
on long distance, high speed runs.
A five-speed gearbox is standard and although better than that of previous
17�s we've tested, the rather notchy and rubbery change is not among
the best we've tried. The ratios are well chosen, though, with first good
for 35 mph, second for 51, third for 71.5 and fourth for 95.5 at the engine's
6500 rpm limit. At 70 mph in top the engine is spinning at a mere 3700 rpm,
while 100 mph calls for no more than 5500 rpm, indicating a very comfortable
gait.
The steering is rather heavy, particularly when parking, due to strong castor
action. There is also some front wheel drive torque reaction felt through
the steering wheel when taking off rather sharply, though it's not as prominent
as on the 16 range. The set-up is very direct however, and embodies a good
degree of feel so that when motoring quickly you're left in no doubt as
to which end is breaking adhesion at the high cornering limits allowed by
the Michelin XAS tyres. On smooth surfaces, even damp ones, the front-end
breakaway is very progressive and easily controlled. Only when confronted
by bumps when cornering quickly will the car tend to hop, twitch, and in
extreme cases plough straight on.
The brakes are discs all round and very effective, though they were over-servoed
for our liking in town, making it difficult to come to a gradual halt without
a sudden jerk. The pedal is also too high and it's easy to trap your foot
under it when moving from the accelerator in a hurry.
The Gordini came with a very worthwhile option (costing �21) of fabric
covered seats. Even those in the rear are very nicely contoured. It's not
the sort of car for four large adults, though, as rear seat head and legroom
is limited.
The car has a very comfortable ride. It's not in the same league as that
of the 16, but then it's not so softly damped and doesn't roll as much.
It's an altogether tauter, more responsive, and consequently more rewarding
car to drive.
The driving position isn't particularly comfortable. Although the seats
are good the wheel is rather upright and the pedals awkwardly placed, so
much so that for most drivers, if the seat/wheel relationship was right
the pedals were far too close, and vice versa.
The major controls - lights, flashers, horn and wash/wipe are mounted on
fingertip stalks to the right of the steering column and take a bit of getting
used to, especially the headlamp flasher which requires a push up rather
than a pull. The wash/wipe control, only a fingertip away on the facia,
is equally difficult to master but once you're familiar with it, its rheostat
operation provides a wide setting of delay operations. Rocker switches situated
conveniently on the facia operate the electric windows, heated rear window,
two-speed blower and hazard flashers. The control for the excellent electrically
operated full length sunshine roof is a little less easy to reach, under
the facia just above the radio installation.
The instruments are comprehensive but ugly and difficult to read as they're
set in deep tunnels with conical glasses. By day they're almost impossible
to see because of stray reflections and by night they're badly illuminated,
especiaily at each end of the four-pod system. Moreover the calibrations
are rather vague. For instance, it's difficult to tell at a glance whether
the fuel gauge is reading full or empty.
The heating is controllable and effective once you've mastered the rather
confusing control slides. Through-flow ventilation is provided by fixed
position grilles mounted on top of the facia. Throughput is rather poor
without the fan boost. Unless you're wearing gloves, your hands can also
get very cold if the ambient temperature is low.
Considering the car has a full length sun roof, wind noise levels are very
low. Tyre roar, bump and thump are minimal. We'd be very impressed with
the quietness of the car were it not for the bad engine boom previously
mentioned and the sundry vibrations emanating from the facia and throttle
pedal (on the overrun).
The interior is rather ornate but the seats, carpet (to the front only)
and door linings are all colour keyed to look the part of an almost �3000
coupe. Several items of trim fell off during the test though (a knob on
the seat release mechanism and some plastic window surround) and the handbrake
often failed to engage. Neither the sun roof (�219), the radio/cassette
player (�93) nor the fabric trim seats are standard.
Creditable though the car's performance and air of luxury are, there are
several cars as quick, as economical and just as well equipped which cost
less. The Dolomite Sprint is the obvious example but so too, is the Alfeta
and the BMW 2002.
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